


Echo

by SophieAyase



Category: Austin & Murry-O'Keefe Families - Madeleine L'Engle
Genre: Bisexual Female Character, F/F, F/M, Meet-Cute, Misses Clause Challenge, Multi, Polyamory, Yuletide, Yuletide 2017, Yuletide Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-28
Updated: 2017-11-28
Packaged: 2019-02-08 02:45:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12855066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SophieAyase/pseuds/SophieAyase
Summary: Or, Vicky's bi awakening. Vicky meets a fan of her work, only to find she's an old acquaintance of Adam's.





	Echo

**Author's Note:**

  * For [whilst](https://archiveofourown.org/users/whilst/gifts).



> Prompt: "let grown Kali sweep Vicky off her feet and be swept up in turn."
> 
> Well, that's how this started off, but somewhere along the way my brain was like "THREESOME," and I have no idea why but there you have it. At any rate, I loved the idea of Kali as a Very Powerful Bisexual who is also Very Good in Bed. (The naughty part doesn't come till the very last section, though, so if you're not up for that - no pun intended - you can just read up through the coffee date.) I also think of Vicky and Adam as being (heretofore latently) bi- or pansexual.
> 
> Honestly I haven't read _The Arm of the Starfish_ in forever (not one of my favorite L'Engle books, sorry), and I'd never have thought of putting Kali and Vicky together, but I think they work! Kali's playfulness against Vicky's introversion is an interesting dynamic.
> 
> I was trying to think what profession a grown-up Vicky could have, and a journalist specialising in the sciences seemed like a good fit. Being a professional author seemed a little too neat, but I'd like to see her use her writing somehow.
> 
> The characters are in their mid-twenties here - something like Vicky as 25, Adam and Kali as 27?

The phone rang.

“This is Vicky Austin.”

“Vicky, it’s Becky,” the receptionist said. “There’s someone here to see you named Carolyn Cutter.” Vicky frowned: that wasn’t a familiar name. “She said she wanted to speak to you about your articles on genetics.”

Vicky sighed. Like any journalist, even one working in the sciences, she was used to cold calls. This, however, was the first one she’d had in person. Still, you never knew who might be able to tell you something useful. “I’ll be right out,” she said, and hung up.

She strode to the reception desk, expecting to see someone in her 40s or 50s. Then her breath caught and her smile faltered. Standing by the desk was a woman about her own age, but with long, wavy blonde hair. Vicky’s first thought was that she resembled Suzy, but she quickly corrected herself: where Suzy was cute as in adorable, this woman was cute as in attractive. _Very_ attractive, she thought.

Vicky glanced at Becky, who smiled and nodded slightly to indicate that this was her guest. She took in a deep breath and walked over to greet her.

“I’m Vicky Austin,” she said, smiling despite the odd feeling in her chest, and extended her hand.

The woman shook her hand, grasping it tightly, and smiled back. “Kali Cutter.”

“How can I help you, Ms. Cutter?” Vicky asked, not making a move toward her office. The woman seemed nice enough, but you couldn’t always spot a nutter, after all.

“Oh, I’ve read a few of your articles,” Kali said mildly. “I’ve always found them interesting - I’m a biochemist, you see. I happened to be at a conference downstairs” – she subconsciously tilted her head toward the elevators outside the magazine’s doors – “and I thought I’d just pop up and say hello.” She chuckled bashfully. Vicky was surprised; somehow, she didn’t seem the type to be bashful or embarrassed. “I’m sorry, that must seem very odd. Kind of stalker-ish,” Kali continued. “But I thought, if you ever need a biochemist to quote, I’m here.” She held out a business card and gave Vicky a dazzling smile.

“Oh. Well, I’m flattered.” Vicky took the card with a much milder smile. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Nice to meet you – oh!” Kali said. “I think we have a mutual acquaintance. Adam Eddington?”

Vicky swallowed a lump in her throat and forced a smile. “Oh, of course, Adam and I are old friends.” _To say the least_ , she thought. “How do you know him?”

Kali smiled and shook her head dismissively. “Oh, I don’t know him anymore, really. Our paths crossed when I was a teenager. God, it’s been years, hasn’t it?” she muttered to herself. She shook her head. “Anyway, it was so nice to meet you.” She smiled again.

“Nice to meet you too,” Vicky murmured.

As she watched the woman walk toward the elevator bank, Vicky tried to make sense of the feelings swirling inside her. Irritation, anxiety… and something like affection.

* * *

“Oh, Adam,” she said that evening, sitting across from him at their tiny kitchen table. “I met someone today who said she knew you.”

“Oh? Who’s that?” Adam asked, his mind more focused on his pasta than his circle of acquaintances.

“Her name’s Kali Cutter. Or Carolyn. Said she knew you as a teenager?” Vicky felt discomfort bubbling in her stomach. She wasn’t sure what response Adam would have. She just hoped whatever it was, it would be enough to sway her away, one way or another, from her mindless nervousness.

A dark look came over Adam’s face, and he lowered his fork back to his plate. “How did you meet her?” he asked curiously.

“She said she was in the business center today, just popped in because she’d read some of my work. She just mentioned you in passing.” Vicky frowned. “Why?”

Adam spoke slowly. “I knew her that summer I worked with Dr. O’Keefe.” He paused, not sure how to continue.

“Was she a friend of Polly’s?” Vicky asked, already knowing the answer.

Adam shook his head definitively. “She’s Typhon Cutter’s daughter.”

Vicky blew out a stream of air. So _that_ was what had been eating at her subconscious. She knew that Adam had been involved in the Cutter affair, but he’d always been reluctant to share anything approaching details. She’d never seen a reason to push him.

“Dr. O’Keefe and I saved her life at one point,” Adam continued. “But it was her own damn fault.” He sighed. “I think she started to turn herself around, but, well, there’s a lot of _history_ there,” he said with a grimace.

“So, not someone you’re eager to see again,” Vicky said lightly.

Adam smiled. “Not particularly, no.”

“Well, we probably won’t hear from her again.” Vicky shrugged and wound some spaghetti around her fork.

“I hope not,” Adam muttered darkly.

* * *

“You’ll be fine,” Vicky whispered.

She and Adam were seated together at the opening reception of the American Biological Society’s annual conference. Vicky had been anxiously eyeing the room, feeling hopelessly out of place among all the academics, while Adam’s typical confidence was lost in the face of his presentation the following day.

Adam nodded tensely. “It’s just one thing when I have someone up there with me,” he said for the umpteenth time that week.

“At least you fit in,” Vicky murmured, tugging nervously at her sleeve and swiveling in her seat.

He smiled warmly. “You fit in fine. Vick. Give yourself some credit. Have you ever met someone who didn’t like you?”

“Mmm, I guess not,” Vicky admitted. “Still,” she added teasingly, “I only know one person who _really_ likes me.” She and Adam giggled as they leaned together for a quick kiss.

“Oh!”

They both turned to see who had spoken, and saw Kali Cutter.

“Er - hi,” she said, clearly embarrassed to have interrupted them. “I just saw you and thought I’d come say hi.” She and Vicky smiled uncomfortably at each other.

“Nice to see you again,” Vicky said, unsure what else to say. After all, she didn’t know the woman that well, and if she and Adam had a complicated history…

“Nice to see you too.” Kali grinned. She seemed genuine enough, Vicky thought. “I didn’t realize you knew each other _that_ well!” Kali blurted. She looked slightly abashed – but only slightly.

Vicky grinned. For whatever reason, she found herself _liking_ Kali. She was certainly magnetic, if nothing else. At any rate, her comment had broken the embarrassment between them. Sure, it wasn’t the greatest icebreaker, but at least they’d all opened up. “Well, we are,” she said unnecessarily.

Kali fixed her gaze on Adam, her smile by now more genuine and less self-conscious. “Hi, Adam,” she said calmly. “It’s been a long time.”

“Hi, Kali,” he said coolly. Vicky looked at him with interest: even though she was no longer uncomfortable with Kali, he clearly was. An interesting twist of fate, she thought.

Kali didn’t notice his discomfort, or more likely, ignored it. “Thank you again for helping me,” she said quietly. “For everything, I mean.”

Adam eyed her curiously. “Don’t mention it.”

She smiled at him. “I know you still don’t trust me,” she said, then shrugged. “It’s okay. I wouldn’t either.” She chuckled at herself. “But, hey, I’m not the same girl I used to be, okay? I’d like to be your friend.”

There was silence for a moment. Vicky could sense Adam sizing Kali up. Then he nodded. “Sure. Friends,” he said dully.

Kali beamed. She seemed to be taking his words seriously, Vicky thought, but she couldn’t have failed to notice the complete lack of enthusiasm underlying them. “Hey, we should meet up sometime,” she said. “For coffee or something. You know what, I’ll give you my phone number. My real one, I mean, not my office.” She quickly rifled through her clutch, then frowned. “Damn! Nothing to write with. I’ll tell you what,” she said to Vicky, “give me your phone. I’ll just put it in there.”

Surprised, Vicky reached out to unlock the phone, her hands fumbling under the unexpected pressure of someone else’s gaze, and opened her contacts before passing it to Kali. As Kali tapped at the screen, Vicky had a moment to wonder why she’d even handed her the phone. For all she knew, Kali could be trying to steal her identity or something. But then, she did like her. Well, it wasn’t just that she _liked_ her; she felt pulled to her, like a magnet.

“I’m just going to text myself so I have your number too, ’kay?” Kali muttered.

“Oh, uh-huh.”

Kali made a few more taps, then smiled and handed the phone back as her clutch buzzed. “We’ll talk soon. I’ll let you two get back to your business,” she said teasingly. “Bye!” She didn’t wait for a response before turning away, but she didn’t seem brusque. More like breezy.

Vicky smiled to herself as she tucked her phone back in her purse, more amused by the exchange than anything. She looked at Adam, who returned her gaze bemusedly. “You barely said a word,” she observed. “How the tables turn.”

Adam smirked. “There are some people I just don’t know how to talk to,” he said.

“You’re not upset about the phone numbers, are you?” Vicky asked. If he’d really been worried, she thought, he would have spoken up. But that didn’t mean he might not have some reservations about it.

“Nah.” He shook his head. “I think she’s harmless enough.” _Then again_ , he thought, _I’ve thought that before._

* * *

Vicky sat comfortably, nestled against the arm of the couch with a bowl of popcorn beside her as she waited for Adam to settle in. Just as he took a seat next to her, sharing a warm smile, she heard her phone buzz and reached behind her to pick it up.

“Oh, it’s Kali,” she said in response to the questioning look she knew he was giving her. She quickly read the message over. “She wants to know if we’d like to go for coffee on Saturday.” She smiled at her partner. “I’m up for it. You?”

He tilted his head back and forth to indicate consideration. “Sure,” he said.

“Is that ‘Sure, sounds like fun’ or ‘Sure, I guess that’s okay’?”

Adam grinned. “Maybe more like ‘Sure, what the hell?’”

Vicky grinned back as she sent a reply. Adam certainly seemed to be warming up to Kali. For whatever reason, she was pleased.

* * *

Kali sipped her latte from the paper cup, gazing over the rim at Vicky’s figure as she walked to the restroom. She didn’t have an hourglass figure, Kali thought, but that wasn’t really a problem… Kali had always liked plain janes anyway, and besides, she had a very nice behind. Kali stared at it appreciatively even as she set her cup down.

“Are you staring at my girlfriend’s ass?” Adam whispered. She grinned and looked at him. The expression on his face was a mix of disapproval, surprise, and … possessiveness? Ooh, interesting.

“What if I am?” she asked lightly.

Adam raised his eyebrows and took a sip of his coffee. “That’s one thing I never took you for,” he said mildly.

“What, a bisexual?” Kali laughed.

He frowned. “I meant an adulterer.”

Kali clicked her tongue. “Come now,” she chided. “I’d never do anything with somebody who was taken.” She sipped her latte, enjoying the bitter sting of the espresso on her tongue. “Without the other person knowing,” she added sweetly.

Adam grunted.

“Hey,” she said. “I really wouldn’t, you know. I’m not that bad.”

Adam practically glared at her. “Tell that to Dr. O’Keefe,” he said.

Kali pouted. “Hey, Dr. O’Keefe’s forgiven me,” she said. “Why can’t you?”

Adam drew in a deep breath and took another swig of coffee. “There’s a difference between forgiving someone and trusting them.”

Kali nodded. “Fair enough. But Vicky sure seems to trust me. She seems like a pretty good judge of character.”

 _She is, actually_ , Adam thought. “Vicky’s more trusting than I am,” he murmured.

“And didn’t Dr. O’Keefe use to say that people become trustworthy by being trusted?” Kali countered.

Adam hesitated. “He did,” he acknowledged.

“Well, then, I’m asking you to trust me.”

He thought about it. Then he nodded.

* * *

Vicky stirred from her sleep and rolled over, then blinked awake after her shoulder hit something. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness to see another figure lying next to her, with long, light hair.

Oh, yes. Kali.

She opened her eyes the rest of the way to take in the sight, lit by the streetlights coming through the window shades. Kali was lying on her back, angling ever so slightly toward Vicky. Vicky let her eyes roam over Kali’s body. It wasn’t as soft as hers – in fairness, hers had gotten softer over the years – but she was nothing if not curvaceous.

Vicky felt Adam shift on her other side, and turned her head to see him. He was on his stomach, arms around his pillow, as if burrowing into the mattress. He _felt_ distinctly different next to her than Kali, boxy where Kali was curvy, but they had the same solidness about them.

Vicky smirked to herself as her eyes caught Adam’s hips digging into the bed. His member would be pressed against it, she thought. She’d seen it more than a few times, of course – felt it more than a few times – and despite her innocence, she liked to believe she was pretty good with it. But she had to admit she hadn’t seen quite what Kali had done with it a few hours earlier.

Nor what Kali had done with her…

She inhaled deeply as she settled her head back against the pillow, and felt her clit tingle at the memory. She resisted the urge to reach down and touch it, not wanting to wake her sleeping companions with the movement. But then, she felt a warm breath on her ear, followed by a soft kiss on her cheek. She flushed.

“You woke up too,” Kali whispered in her ear, quietly enough to avoid waking Adam.

“Mm-hmm.”

“You want to go again?” Kali asked lightly.

“Mmph.” Vicky couldn’t deny the thought was appealing. “Don’t want to wake Adam,” she whispered back.

“He’d be okay getting up for that, wouldn’t he?” Kali replied with a grin. “In more ways than one, of course.”

Vicky smiled and shook her head. Maybe he would be, at that, but he’d been awfully tired lately. She thought it was better not to chance it.

“We could take it to the living room,” Kali suggested, her hand snaking over Vicky’s belly to wrap around her hip. “Just roll out of bed real gently.”

Vicky’s eyes narrowed. Doing it on the couch? The couch where she and Adam napped and watched movies and read? _Well_ , she thought, _I guess it’s no weirder than the bed._ She nodded and made a move to roll toward Kali’s side of the bed. Kali grinned at her and rolled off.

As they tiptoed out of the bedroom, Vicky cast a glance toward Adam’s sleeping figure. Was this the right thing to do? she wondered.

Then she felt Kali wrap her fingers around her hand, tugging gently at her. She turned her eyes back toward the other woman. The light from outside practically poured in around the edges of the shades and curtains, illuminating Kali’s very beautiful, very naked body. Almost like something from a Renaissance painting, Vicky thought. Albeit smaller.

She turned her hand to grasp Kali’s in return. It was a night for new experiences, after all. She was ready for this.

**Author's Note:**

> And so Kali became Adam and Vicky's girlfriend, and they all lived happily and queerly ever after, amen.
> 
> God bless Madeleine L'Engle for writing that "people become trustworthy only by being trusted" line, because I had no idea how I was going to get Adam to let Kali in until I remembered it. (I know it's Canon Tallis and Mr. Austin who actually say it, but it sounded like something Calvin might say too, and Madeleine did have a way of giving her characters the same thoughts - witness Rob in A Ring of Endless Light repeating Frank's bit about reincarnation from Camilla.)


End file.
